Neuschwanstein Castle in the Bavarian region of Germany

Neuschwanstein Castle
Me and Shanell at the waterfall
Too bad Christmas has past..this would make a good Christmas card photo.
Making our way up to Neuscwanstein
Making our way up to the parents castle

We visited southern Germany this weekend and as you can see it was a tad on the chilly side. I promise one day I will accept the fact that winter means cold and quit complaining about it.

Fussen (where the castles are) took about 3 hours to get to from Heidelberg (where Shanell lives.) We left early in the morning and arrived about 11am. It's a full day of castle seeing there b/c they only give guided tours. I'm not big on guided tours b/c there is always someone in the group that asks too many questions and ends up annoying me. This one wasn't that bad - we did have the annoying guy but each castle tour was only 35 minutes. I think that's my limit.

Here's my abbreviated version of the history of the castles. King Ludwig lived with his parents in the yellow castle when he was a child. When he became King he wanted a different castle and had the Neuschwanstein Castle built. He was a little on the crazy side and he died before it was finished. Some say he was murdered, some say suicide but which ever the case it's ashame b/c the inside of the Neuschwanstein Castle is beautiful. By far the best castle I've been in. You've actually seen pictures of the castle before you just didn't know it. The Disney World Castle in Orlando, FL is constructed to look like the Neuschwanstein Castle. Lots of walking up and down hills and stairs but it was worth it.

I must give a "shout out" to the U.S Army again...we thought we had hit the jackpot the first time we went to the commissary. This time we went to the PX (military wal-mart) and the military food court. Scott finally got his Taco Bell after waiting 8 months. No need to worry about us....we are stocked up on American food for a while. The bag boy said, "that must be one big super bowl party your having." Little did he know it was just for the 2 of us. Thanks again Shanell!

Scott and I booked a trip to Scotland this week. It's going to be pretty cool b/c we take an over night cruise that leaves 10 minutes from Brugge and docks in Edinburgh, Scotland. We'll put our car on the ship to so we'll have that to tour with. (they do drive on the other side of the road however) Scott's super excited b/c he'll get to go to the St. Andrews golf course and shop for souvies. We're going over my birthday in May so....Happy Birthday to me!

February and March are big travel months for me. I'll be in the U.S. toward the end of the month and will pick up Shannon and come back to Europe for two weeks of non-stop traveling. Lots of pictures to come b/c we are making stops in Dublin, Ireland/Vienna, Austria/Milan, Italy and Rome, Italy. Then Scott will get the chance to go to Dublin because we're going to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day over our anniversary. Should be interesting so stay tuned!